Under-floor elevator



March 8, 1966 A. LODIGE UNDER-FLOOR ELEVATOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. '7, 1963 I IN QENTOQ ALOIS LODIGE il m March 8, 1966 ODG 3,239,031

UNDER -FLOOR ELEVATOR k 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOQ ALOIS LODIGE g y, 5 21am WM gtty March 8, 1966 A. LODIGE 3,

UNDER-FLOOR ELEVATOR Original Filed Jan. '7, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOIQ ALOIS LODIGE BY 5% Ema/M 9 797% was.

March 8, 1966 A. LGDIGE 3,

UNDER-FLOOR ELEVATOR Original Filed Jan. '7, 1963 4 Sheets-Sheet 4.

mvamon .fl 5a- ALOIS LODIGE United States Patent 3,239,031 UNDER-FLGUR ELEVATOR Alois Liidige, Frankfurter Weg 13, Paderborn, Germany Original application Jan. 7, 1963, Ser. No. 249,911. Divided and this application May 11, 1964, Ser. No.

Claims. (Cl. 18766) This invention relates to a conveyor shaft with conveyor devices for under-floor elevators, this application being a division of my copending application Serial No. 249,911, filed January 7, 1963. Such a conveyor shaft is generally employed for interconnecting a plurality of conveyor ways or paths which are displaced with relation to each other. According to whether the shaft is disposed vertically, at an inclination or horizontally, and the conveyor paths are arranged at a plurality of levels above one another and/or displaced in relation to each other in a plane, the conveyor devices take the form of an elevating cage and a hood which is movable independently of the elevator cage, so that there are no construction elements extending above the floor level if the elevator is not to be used for the floor level. For reasons of security against accidents, the conveyor paths must be closable adjacent to the shaft by doors which operate with safety. By doors operating with safety are to be understood doors which are lockable by any suitable means and which can open only when safe access to the conveyor device concerned, e.g. to the travelling cage of an elevator, is ensured.

The necessity for such safe-operating doors, however, entails marked disadvantages from the point of view of the flexibility of the conveyor operation in the conveyor shaft. For example, it has not been possible hitherto to make accessible from a conveyor shaft of the type referred to a conveyor path which may be adjusted in position longitudinally of the shaft.

- The invention avoids the reduced flexibility of operation of the conveyor in the conveyor shaft which is normally produced by reason of the necessity for the provision of safe-operation doors on the conveyor shaft by the fact that the doors associated with at least one of the conveyor paths are mounted in a door carrier which is arranged to be displaceable in the direction of length of the shaft and may be arrested at varying distances from a selected conveyor path. Thus the door carrier may be fixedly disposed in a separate shaft part displaceable telescopically in the conveyor shaft or it may itself be arranged to be movable along the wall of a stationary shaft.

The invention has numerous applications since it reners the operation of the conveyor in the conveyor shaft, for certain conveyor paths selected from those to be used, independent of a fixed stationary position of the door structure and, moreover, independent of a fixed stationary position of the conveyor paths.

An example of the application of the invention is to the operation of an under-floor elevator. In this case the door carrier is arranged in a displaceable shaft part which takes the form of a hood movable out of the stationary shaft part. The hood, either by means of the driving means of the elevator cage or by means of a separate drive, may be caused to travel to and become locked in an upper position in which the door disposed in the hood leads to a floor level. In this position the hood operates, so to speak, as a stationary elevator house which makes possible an independent operation between any underfloor level and the floor level. In the retracted position, on the other hand, the top of the hood may be brought substantially exactly into line with the surface of the floor so that this surface will be freed from any disturbing structures and will be satisfactorily closed off on the shaft 3,239,031 Patented Mar. 8, 1966 side. Thus the operation between individual under-floor levels is still possible as before, whereby if need be an uppermost under-floor level remains accessible through the door disposed in the lowered position of the hood.

The arrangement may however also be such that the hood may, at will, be projected above the floor level and locked so that additional individual selected levels disposed above the floor level, e.g. the platform of an automotive vehicle, may be served direct from the under-floor elevator.

Various details and further advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of some selected examples of the application thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic vertical section of an underfloor hoist according to the invention employing a movable shaft part which carries a door and is constructed as a hood;

FIG. 2 is a similar view of a modified form of the hoist shown in FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3 and 3a show a further modification of the hoist of FIG. 1, in two different positions;

FIGS. 4 and 4a show a third modification, FIG. 4 being a section taken on the line 44 of FIG. 4a and FIG. 4a being a section taken on the line 4a-4n of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5, which is diagrammatic and a section taken on the line 55 of FIG. 5a, shows an alternative device for covering the gap between the walls of the fixed shaft and the conveyor device moving in the shaft which arises upon the movable shaft part (hood) being moved out;

FIG. 5a is a section taken on the line 5a5a of FIG. 5;

FIG. 5b is a detail of FIG. 5 drawn to a larger scale; and

FIG. 6 is a detail view of a supplementary feature of the device for covering the gap between the walls of the fixed shaft and the conveyor device.

From FIG. 1 can be seen the principle of the present invention as applied to an underground hoist which interconnects a floor level 1 and a sub-floor level 3 by way of a shaft 2. There may be present still further sub-floor levels, but these are not illustrated in FIG. 1. In the shaft 2 a hoist cage 4 is movable up and down for connecting the different levels. The cage 4 is suitably driven hydraulically by way of a piston rod 5. Any desired other types of drive may, however, be utilized.

A shaft part 6 is telescopically projectible out of the shaft 2 so that it may be moved between an upper position, shown in FIG. 1, and a lower position. This shaft part 6 suitably consists not only'of the shaft side walls, but also carries an upper cover plate 7 so that a struc ture is produced which will hereinafter be designated a hood.

In the lower position of the hood 6 the cover plate 7 thereof is a continuation of the floor level 1, sealing ribs 8 being provided (if desired) to engage in a watertight fashion with a U-section sealing lip 9 provided in the floor level 1. Naturally, however, other types of sealing means may be employed if desired. The cover plate 7 may, moreover, be constructed of sufiicient strength to render it capable of supporting loads.

Hoist doors 10, which are not shown in any detail in FIG. 1, are arranged in the hood 6 at one side (or, if required, at several sides). The usual hoist doors 11 are also arranged at the sub-floor level 3.

The cover 12 of the cage 4, for the purpose of projecting the hood 6, is brought against the underside of the cover plate 7 and as it continues its upward motion lifts with it the lowerable hood 6. The lifting motion is continued to a slightly greater height than corresponds to the floor level 1 to be served so that bolts 13 disposed in the wall of the shaft may be engaged without difiiculty in openings 14 in the wall of the hood in order to lock the hood 6 in its projected position. This operation is carried out from the floor level while observing the trafiic conditions. The bolts 13 are contact-protected so that at the moment of locking there is established a normally operable, industrial, automatic hoist in which the doors 10 and 11 operate in the same manner as usual hoist doors.

For the lowering operation, the hood 6 is again additionally raised a short distance by means of the cage 4, whereupon the bolts 13 are withdrawn, and the hood is taken down with the cage 4 until the parts 8 and 9 have interengaged. In the lowered position, if several subfioor levels 3 are present, these levels may be served in the usual way as before.

As the internal dimensions of the hood 6 must approximately correspond to the internal dimensions of the shaft, the hood 6 slides in recesses 16 which are formed in the side walls of the shaft overthe range of movement of the hood. In the projected position of the hood, therefore,'an appreciable gap arises between the. outer edge of the cage 4 and the edge of the recesses 16. This gap must be covered, especially when the cage 4 itself has no doors. In the example of FIG. 1, the covering of the recesses in the shaft wall to provide a smooth shaft is effected either by means of a hanging apron 17 which is secured on the wall of the hood and slides on the wall of the shaft, or by means of a steel plate 18 which is secured on the shaft wall and slides between the hood 6 and the cage 4. For reasons of stiffness, the hanging apron 17 and the steel plate 18 are slightly bent outwards at their free ends. The use of a steel plate 18 is particularly recommended in those cases where a hanging apron 17 would be brought in front of a sub-floor level 3 to be served by the cage upon the lowering of the hood.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the invention similar to that of FIG. 1, but merely having modified means for overcoming the difficulty presented by the recesses 16 in the walls of the shaft. The transition between the walls of the shaft 2 and of the recess16 is sloped in an inclined plane 19. Similarly, the lower ends of the slide walls of the hood 6 (those walls adjacent the entrances to the cage) are each sloped to an inclined surface 20. In order to keep the platform of the cage 4 smooth while covering the gaps which arise in the region of the recesses 16, there are provided cover sheets 21 which can be projected laterally from the platform and are secured on sliding members 22 normally urged outwardly by springs 23 to press rollers 24 carried at their free ends against the wall of the shaft 2, the inclined surface 19, the wall of the recess 16 and against the inclined surface and the inner wall of the hood 6, dependent upon the relative positions of the cage and hood in the shaft.

The further embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 3 and 3a employs a modified form of the gapcovering means in which the covering is effected by means of displaceable elements which, when the hood 6 is projected, move into the shaft 2 by an amount equal to the wall-thickness of the wall 31 of the hood and thus make the wall of the shaft continuous again. In those cases where a further sub-floor level 32 is disposed in the zone of the shaft gap to be covered, these elements 30 may be provided with doors 33. Upon the lowering of the hood 6, after unlocking has been effected, the element 30 (which is shown as a door-frame in FIGS. 3 and 3a) again moves from the position shown in FIG. 3a inwards into the position shown in FIG. 3 in order once again to free the space for the hood 6. Thus the doorframe 30 executes horizontal movements equivalent to the thickness of the wall 31 of the hood.

In the retracted or lowered position of the hood 6 the door 10 in the wall of the hood and the door 33 in the displaceable door-frame 30 are disposed immediately behind one another, see FIG. 3. If the subfioor l vel 32 is to be served by the cage 4 when the hood is in the retracted position, both doors 10 and 33 must be actuated. In the projected position of the hood 6 (FIG. 3a) there is naturally present for the sub-floor level 32 only the door 33 in the displaceable door-frame, whereas the door 10 which is arranged in the wall of the hood is accessible from the floor level 1.

A further alternative construction of the arrangement can be appreciated from FIG. 3, namely that one or more planes above the floor level 1 may be served by the cage 4. These planes lying above the floor level 1 may be constituted, for example, by the load-carrying planking of an automotive truck or lorry 35 which is to be loaded from the cage 4, e.g. over a loading sheet 36, through the door 10 on one level. These relationships are shown in broken lines in FIG. 3, the opened hoist door 10 not being shown in detail.

In order that greater projection heights of the hood 6 may be achieved, it is only necessary to arrange that the cage 4 may be raised out of the shaft to a corresponding extent. For the locking of the hood 6 at different heights further apertures 14' are formed one below the other in the wall of the hood in which the apertures 14 are formed, the bolts 13 engaging the appropriate apertures 14' for different heights of projection of the hood. At the different locking positions the functioning of the complete equipment naturally remains unaltered. The various apertures 14 and 14' may also (as shown in FIGS. 3 and 3a) be formed in a downwardly projecting extension 15 of the corresponding wall of the hood.

The extensions 15 simultaneously act as guides for the hood in the shaft should the hood 6 be projected to the greater extent mentioned above. This is important in the case of a construction in which a sub-floor level 32 is provided since with such a construction the side wall of the hood 6 presented towards this sub-floor level may possibly rise clear of the floor level 1 and therefore no longer be available as a guiding element. Moreover, if the lower edge of the hood 6 rises clear of the floor level at certain places, a danger of accidents may arise by reason of the gap formed between the hood 6 and the floor level 1. This risk of accidents may be avoided, for example, by means of a rolled strip 37 adapted to wind itself up automatically which is provided with a hook 38 that engages in a corresponding counterpart 39 in the lower part of the wall 31 of the hood as the latter moves to its higher projected position. The rolled strip 37 is then unwound by the upwardly travelling hood and closes off the gap that would eventually form (see the dottedline position in FIG. 3). If the hood 6 is projected only to the position shown in FIG. 3a, for serving the floor level 1, the rolled strip 37 is not actuated.

In the constructional form according to FIGS. 4 or 4a, there is shown a modified guiding means for the hoist cage 40 designed for the case where cracks and wall displacements within the shaft 2 must be catered for so that the guiding of the cage "on the wall of the shaft is not possible. The guiding of the hoist cage in this example is effected by means of sets of rollers 41 engaging a column 42 freely and rotatably arranged in the hoist shaft and mounted at its ends in bearings, large intervening spaces being left between the cage and the side walls of the shaft. The rollers 41 are mounted in a frame part 43 secured to the platform of the cage 40. So that the cage may be prevented from rotating in the shaft 2, the frame part 43 carries a lateral arm 44 which is guided by a roller 45 on its end in a channel member 46. The same method of guiding may moreover be employed for the hood 6 (although it is not shown), it being appreciated, however, that the frame part carrying the hood 6 must not obstruct the path of the cage.

The means described in the foregoing description for covering the gap and for locking the hood may also be employed in the construction according to FIGS., 4 and 4a, but they have not been illustrated in Order to simplify the drawings.

A further alternative possibility for the covering of the gap produced between the shaft wall and the cage due to the projection of the hood 6 is explained here with reference to FIGS. 5, 5a, 5b and FIG. 6, parts having the same functions as parts in the preceding examples being designated by the same reference numerals.

Let the thickness of the lateral wall 31 of the hood be indicated by the numeral 54 Between the inner side of this hood-wall 31 and the cage is a narrow gap 51 whereas between the outer side of the hood-wall 31 and the recess 16 in the side wall of the shaft is an intervening space 52. The hood-wall 31, which may contain the door 10 (not shown), is closed off at its lower edge with a closure structure, e.g. a beam 53 of angle-iron shape.

When the hood 6 is projected, there exists between the side wall of the shaft 2 and the cage 4 a gap to be covered which, in the region of the recess 16 in the shaft-wall, is made up of the sum of the widths 5t 51 and 52 and, in the more deeply disposed part of the shaft 2, is made up only of the usual and negligible width 51. In the construction described with reference to FIG. 5, the covering of the gap is effected by means of a tongue 54 which is swingably mounted on an arm 55 secured to the platform of the cage 4. The tongue 54 may swing out from the platform of the cage 4 to varying extents in order to cover the gap to the maximum degree at all times.

A more suitable way of actuating the tongue 54 can be seen in FIG. 5b. The tongue 54 is, for the one part, swingably mounted on the arm 55 and is so guided, for the other part, by means of a roller 56 in a guide rail 57 mounted on the wall of the shaft by securing elements 57 that it will follow all the changes in the profile of the wall of the shaft. Sharp transitions between the inner surfaces of the wall 31 of the hood and the recesses 16 in the shaft, or betwen these recesses 16 and the lower parts of the walls of the shaft are suitably avoided. In the region of the hood 6 this may be achieved, for example, by means of a sheet 58 which is mounted on the lower edge of the hood 6 and loaded by a spring 59, the lower end of this sheet sliding on the Wall of the recess 16 in the shaft.

The gap which has already been referred to many times must however frequently be covered not only in the region of the bottom platform of the cage 4 but also in the region of the side walls of the cage. This may be effected, for example, by means of a telescopic tube 60, 61 (FIG. 6), of square cross-section, for example, the lower end of which is anchored in the lower part of the recess 16 in the shaft and the upper end of which is secured, as by welding, to the lower edge of the hood 6. The width of the telescopic tube 60, 61 naturally corresponds to the width of the gap to be covered. It is not necessary, however, to employ a telescopic tube at this place since it will suffice to employ a continuous square tube which is secured by its upper end to the lower edge of the hood 6 and the lower end of which slides in a suitable lateral recess in the shaft 2. The arrangement of the tube 60 laterally near the swingable tongue 54 and thus the manner in which the shaft gap is laterally covered may be clearly seen from FIG. 5a. The method of laterally covering the gap shown in FIG. 6 may be used not only for covering the gap at the sides of the platform according to FIG. 5 but also for any other gapcovering at the sides of the platform, for example, in the scheme shown in FIG. 2.

While one embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it will be understood that it is illustrative only and not to be taken as a definition of the scope of the invention, reference being had for this purpose to the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator cage and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator cage, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, and at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood.

2. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator cage and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator cage, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, and a plurality of accident-safe doors provided in the side walls of said hood to open or close openings therein, said independent movement of the elevator cage and the hood permitting, after the locking operation, an independent driving of the elevator cage between the floor level and an under-floor level, with the hood, after being unlocked, being carried down to the lowered position by the elevator cage.

3. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator :cage and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator cage, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, and a plurality of accident-safe doors provided in the side walls of said hood to open or close openings therein, one of said doors being adapted to be positioned at or above the floor level, another of said doors adapted to be positioned at a subfloor level, the 'hood being movable to a position wherein the door leading to the floor level in the upper operative position provides access to the uppermost sub-floor level in the lowered position of the hood.

4. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator cage and hood being movable independently of each other, a plurality of superposed locking means for looking the hood in selected positions relative to said elevator mechanism, one of the locking positions retaining the hood in a position above the floor level, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, and at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood.

5. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator cage and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator cage, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, a plurality of accident-safe doors rovided in the side walls of said hood to open or close openings therein, and a roller blind wound up beneath the floor level and engaged by the hood when projected above the floor level in order to unroll the blind to cover any gap which arises between the lower edge of the hood and the fixed shaft.

6. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, and means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft Wall.

7. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side Walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, and means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, said gap-covering means comprising a hanging apron arranged in the hood and sliding on the shaft.

8. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, and means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, said gap-covering means comprising an upstanding plate arranged on the shaft and sliding within the hood.

9. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, and means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, said gap covering means comprising cover sheets, a plurality of rollers on said sheets, means for loading the sheets by springs bearing on the shaft through the rollers, the transitions between the enlarged walls of the shaft and the hood being inclined.

10. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, a door carrier arranged to be displaceable transversely to the length of the shaft and which, in the raised position of the hood, displaces toward the interior of the shaft until it is flush with the wall of the latter whereas, upon the lowering of the hood, it is withdrawn to free the space necessary for the accommodation of the wall of the hood, and a door mounted in the door carrier.

11. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more subfloor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, a door carrier arranged to be displaceable transversely to the length of the shaft and which, in the raised position of the hood, displaces toward the interior of the shaft until it is flush with the wall of the latter where-as, upon the lowering of the hood, it is withdrawn to free the space necessary for the accommodation of the wall of the hood, and a door mounted in the door carrier, a door provided in the hood and the door provided in the door carrier aligning themselves with each other and simultaneously providing access to the uppermost sub-floor level when the hood is in the lowered position.

12. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, and means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, said means for covering the gaps comprising a tiltable tongue and a guide rail mounted on the wall of the shaft, said tiltable tongue being pivoted on the cage for covering the gaps and adapted to follow the profile of the wall of the shaft, the tilting movements of the tongue being controlled by said guard rail.

13. A11 under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an enlargement in the upper portion of the shaft, an elevator mechanism disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator mechanism, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator mechanism and being raised and lowered in said enlarged portion of the shaft, said elevator mechanism and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator mechanism, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, at least one accident-safe door provided in at least one of the side walls of said hood, and means for covering any gaps between the hood and the shaft wall, said means for covering the gaps comprising a profile tube connected to said hood and a guide mounted on the shaft, said tube being slida'ble at its lower end in said guide.

14. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator cage and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator cage, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, and a plurality of accidentsafe doors provided in the side walls of said hood to open or close openings therein, a column extending freely through the shaft providing guide means for the cage, means for securing the guide means to the cage.

15. An under-floor elevator for operation in a fixed vertically extending shaft, said shaft extending from a floor level and connecting with one or more sub-floor levels, an elevator cage disposed in said shaft, means for raising and lowering the elevator cage, a hood adapted to be raised and lowered by the elevator cage, said elevator cage and hood being movable independently of each other, means for locking the hood in a selected position relative to said elevator cage, said hood comprising side walls and a cover plate, said cover plate being adapted to be substantially flush with the floor level when the hood is in its lowered position, a plurality of accidentsafe doors provided in the side Walls of said hood to open or close openings therein, a column extending freely through the shaft providing guide means for the cage, means for securing the guide means to the cage, a lateral guide rail in the shaft, and a guide arm mounted on the guide means whereby swinging movements of the guide means relative to the shaft are prevented.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 494,126 3/1893 De Arden 187-62 648,309 4/1900 Spencer 18798 1,022,972 4/1912 Ross 18798 1,178,814 4/1916 Anderson 18762 1,392,962 10/1921 Murphy 18798 1,628,556 5/1927 Rosell 187-62 HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner.

SAMUEL F. COLEMAN, Examiner. 

1. AN UNDER-FLOOR ELEVATOR FOR OPERATION IN A FIXED VERTICALLY EXTENDING SHAFT, SAID SHAFT EXTENDING FROM A FLOOR LEVEL AND CONNECTING WITH ONE OR MORE SUB-FLOOR LEVELS, AN ELEVATOR CAGE DISPOSED IN SAID SHAFT, MEANS FOR RAISING AND LOWERING THE ELEVATOR CAGE, A HOOD ADAPTED TO BE RAISED AND LOWERED BY THE ELEVATOR CAGE, SAID ELEVATOR CAGE AND HOOD BEING MOVABLE INDEPENDENTLY OF EACH OTHER, MEANS FOR LOCKING THE HOOD IN A SELECTED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID ELEVATOR CAGE, SAID HOOD COMPRISING SIDE WALLS AND A COVER PLATE, SAID COVER PLATE BEING ADAPTED TO BE SUBSTANTIALLY FLUSH WITH THE FLOOR LEVEL WHEN THE HOOD IS IN ITS LOWERED POSITION, AND AT LEAST ONE ACCIDENT-SAFE DOOR PROVIDED IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID HOOD. 